Dar es Salaam:  United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (Uneca) has criticised the pace of implementation of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) in Tanzania, saying it is slower compared to other member countries.   Dr Kojo Busia, the Uneca senior development management official, said since its launch in June 2006, the APRM process Tanzania had been so slow compared to other 28 member countries in the region.
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He said Tanzania had not even submitted its assessment report to the headquarters to allow external experts to come to the country to validate the process. The Uneca official was speaking during the closing of a training workshop on enhancing the role and effective participation of parliamentarians in the APRM process in the region. The workshop aimed at enhancing the information, conceptual, analytical, knowledge and skills base of national and continental parliamentarians.
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Uneca was selected as a partner and strategic technical assistant in the effective implementation of the APRM process in the region. Dr Busia said among the APRM process member countries, nine, including Uganda, had completed the process and submitted their reports to the headquarters, while other 15 were in different stages of concluding the same. However, he admitted that the process was very complex and needed to involve everybody, adding that a lot of planning was also needed as each country had its own ways of doing things, including policies, laws and many other regulations.
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Prof Daudi Mukangara, the secretary overseeing APRM process in Tanzania, said that the slow pace of the process could have been caused by involvement of many stakeholders compared to other countries. "We decided that all stakeholders should be involved in the process and we have six drafts so that all the stakeholders would be aware of the process rather than be surprised by the results," ha said.
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He said they had just finished a self-assessment process and were now preparing a report. Prof Mukangara added that in the fifth draft they would seek comments from upcountry before making a conclusion and the final draft by the end of January or February, next year.
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Speaking during the event, Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation minister Bernard Membe said the Government was looking forward to Tanzania joining other nine pioneer APRM countries next year.